IIPM cannot call itself management institute: HC

IIPM, run by Arindam Chaudhuri, can no longer use terms such as MBA, BBA or management course for the courses it offers. The Delhi HC on Friday restrained it from even calling itself management school or B-school.

Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) run by Arindam Chaudhuri can no longer use terms such as MBA, BBA or management course for the courses it offers. The Delhi high court on Friday restrained it from even calling itself management school, business school or B-school.

Taking a tough stance against the institute, which has long been embroiled in controversy over its recognition by the higher education regulators here, the HC directed it to prominently display on their website that they are not recognized by any statutory body or authority in India.

The HC order came on a PIL alleging that IIPM was “misleading, cheating and exploiting students” by fraudulently using “MBA or BBA” in prospectus and official website as courses offered by it.

Though IIPM claimed to have recognition from a foreign Management Institute namely IMI, Belgium, the HC noted it was “cleverly concealing” from potential students that the foreign institute was “nothing but an alter ego or another face of IIPM.”

The court noted AICTE’s submission that its prior approval was compulsory and mandatory for conduct of a technical course including the MBA or management course.

The regulatory body had said that the activities being run by IIPM was clearly an attempt to offer MBA programmes by bypassing the statutory requirement of seeking prior approval of AICTE. IIPM’s name continues to feature on list of unapproved institutions on AICTE website.

In November last year, UGC had found the advertisement issued by IIPM to be having the potential to mislead the students and public at large and had asked it to stop the practice of issuing such “dubious advertisements to attract students deceptively.”